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LPGA CORNING CLASSIC

May 25, 2005

Rosie Jones

CORNING, NEW YORK

JOEL LAMP: We've got former champion Rosie Jones here in the interview room. You've had a solid start to your season. Talk a little bit about where you're at thus far in your season.

ROSIE JONES: Well, I've had a great start with four Top 10s, and I've had a missed cut in Atlanta, had a mishap a few weeks ago, got my clubs stolen out of my car the day before the tournament and just kind of had a fiasco trying to get some clubs together just had a really bad round, missed cut.

I've been doing okay. I'm not on top of my game. This is not my favorite weather as you guys know with it being a little chilly and rainy, but I'm just trying to hang in there and play a few tournaments, make some more points and play Solheim this year.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: This is it.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, I've been having some problems with my neck. I've got a herniated disk up in my C5 C6 area, got bulging disks above and below it. It's not really allowing me to play and compete as hard as I want and to practice as much as and as hard as I would need to. It's not as much fun when you're playing in pain, and I've been dealing with it and playing with it well, for ten years, but really bad for the last three years. It's just the quality of life just isn't exceeding the fun that it is to be on Tour full time. So it's time for me to move on. I'm getting older, the players are younger, longer, stronger. You know, it's time to go.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, I started thinking about it two years ago, and I thought my last Solheim would be my last Solheim, and then I played well last year. I made some points and stuff, and I really didn't know if was going to play this year. I found a guy that was going to help me with my neck, and I'm able to compete and have played well. So my goal is to stay healthy and play and be a contender at Solheim. If not, I'll be assisting Nancy. So I'll be there either way, and that's great.

But I really want to compete. I don't want to just make enough points to get there. I really want to feel like I'll be a good player, a player that's going to make points, and we can take the Europeans down. That's what I want to be, a strong player on that team. If I'm not healthy, then I wouldn't be that player.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, not a whole lot just yet. I don't have a whole lot of plans in the beginning, but I imagine I'll be in golf, I'll be doing some work with my sponsor, and that's the great thing. I think I'll be doing some stuff after my retirement with Olivia, and I'm going to stay in touch with the Tour, but I won't be out here, won't be playing. I don't really know. I can do anything. I really like to do a lot of stuff. I don't know if I can make money at it, though. You know, I might even try a little bit of commentating, but I don't know. I don't know if I'm quick with the tongue. You need to be quick witted. I don't know if I have that good TV voice.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, it's just this is a special place for me, it always has been. It's just great. I knew that I was going to play this when I got to pick and choose which events I was going to play this year, knowing I was only going to play about 15 events, this tournament falls in a place where a lot of players are going to take a week off, but not for me. It's a must play for me. I love the golf course, I love the people, I love the tournament, and it's just always a lot of fun. It's sentimental to me now, so it's you know, whether I play well or not, I will always enjoy my time here. You know, usually more times than not, I do play well and it surprises me. So I hope I get surprised again this week.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, I think when I rolled in that 50 footer to beat Tammy Green in the first hole of the playoff to win that second was it my second win? Yeah, the repeat. And that was it. One of the photographers got the picture of that, and I was three feet up in the air. I have a picture of that at home. It was really fun.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, it was a lot of fun. It's a great accomplishment. This golf course is a lot of fun to play and to come back and to repeat, very high on my list of great moments. The funny thing was is that I had an in between caddie, kind of a stand in, Louie, because my regular caddie wasn't working the tournament actually, so Louie was kind of a temporary for me. He worked with one of the other girls. So we won. So we went again the next year and we won again.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, sure, yeah. I want to win a major still. I'm running out of chances. I've got three more chances that I'm going to play in them, and maybe I play in a U.S. Open next year or something like that, but if I'm I haven't let go of my dream of winning a major. I came pretty close at the Nabisco this year finishing 2nd, but I think I'm going to have to play a lot better to get past The Big Girl when it comes down to it.

If I have my moment, if I play as good as I think I can, I might be able to compete. But I haven't been able to do that.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Yeah, we're playing at I don't know the name of it now. Bulle Rock Country Club. I've never seen it, never been there, have no idea what it's like.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Annika.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, there's a lot of buzz. I mean, there's buzz where she goes, and there should be because she's the greatest player in the world, in men or women. She's attracting a lot of new fans, and that's great. There's always like it's great for TV, great for sponsors, great for fans, great for our tournaments because she brings a lot more competition to the tournaments. That's good for our Tour.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, I don't think she no, I don't think it's intentional, but I think everybody she's intimidating as a player because she's such a great competitor.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: I don't know.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: That's how strong she is, and that's where she sets her standard a little bit higher than everybody else. She's done that since she was 25, 28 years old, and she has set goals for herself that I never even thought were out there to make and kept stats for herself that I thought were silly. But she's proven a lot of people wrong, and a lot of people are silly for not thinking of that stuff.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: No, because, you know, she's still a person. She's still a girl that's playing golf, and she has her good days and her bad days. You know, you just have to have belief in yourself just like all of us have to get where we have gotten to this point that we can play and we can play against anybody. She just happens to play better than most all the time. But you have to have belief in yourself to be able to do that and to try, just to work at it a little bit harder to get there. I don't think it's beyond anybody to be able to do that, but she's got great talent, great motivation and a lot of determination to get where she wants to go.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Yeah, it'll be a lot of fun. Yeah, I've played with her a couple times this year, and she's really pleasant to play with and a great sportswoman. The crowds add to it. I think it's fun for Corning. It'll be really fun. I hope the weather holds in there and it'll be a great first two days.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Yeah, it is actually. I'm really proud of her. The youngest player in 53 years to win, that's just incredible. You know, it takes a lot of determination and a lot of guts, a lot of talent to come out while you're in high school and compete with us, and you're brave and bold to even think that you can win on Tour when you're 19 years old, and to do it, that shows a lot of guts. That's pretty impressive.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: I'm just glad I'm leaving (laughing). It's a good time to retire. I feel blessed that I've played with the spectrum of players that have been on this Tour, from Kathy Whitworth to Michelle Wie. Michelle Wie I'm sure will be on this Tour at some point if she doesn't skip us and just go straight to the men. But I played with her over in Hawaii, and she's awesome. She's a very good player.

It's been exciting for me to see the young, and I don't want to call Whitworth old, but I played against Whitworth up in Rochester when she won. It was only her 85th at that time, and we went into a playoff. So for me I've played with some great players throughout the years, and I think with the younger players coming up, they're just getting bigger and better and bolder. It's going to be great. I think it's going to be some great golf.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Wow, just off the top of my head.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, I would have to say Whitworth, Bradley, Jan, Annika, and the next one is yet to come. I don't know, there's a lot.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: No. You know, it's very hard to put yourself and go, you know, the competition and the players then you know, if you don't see them yeah, great players, all of them. Great players.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: JoAnne Carner, I think she's great. There's just so many great players. There's just lots of great players out here, and the modern great players are our younger players right now that have a lot of responsibility to take this Tour to its new heights. Part of it is playing great, part of it is taking the responsibility as professionals and doing the other part, to go there, and hopefully they're going to be there to do that.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Sure, yeah. If I stopped right now today, I'd be I'm totally satisfied with the way my career has gone, and the things that I have accomplished and the goals that I set, you know, I feel blessed with the career I've had.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: It is. It's important to me. Last year I was playing hurt quite a bit, and I was struggling a lot, I didn't have a good year, I didn't want to go out feeling bad and looking bad. This year has been great so far. I'm not on top of my game right now. This weather, you know, affects my body differently. I don't really get the flexibility that I need to play the way I want to play, and so and it also aggravates my neck and stuff.

When I'm playing well and I'm having fun, that's the way I want to go out. I want to walk away from it knowing I gave it my best shot and I'm walking away. I don't want to be miserable and unhappy out here walking the fairways not playing well and not up to the caliber of play that I know that I can play.

A lot of people look at me and say, "Why do you want to quit then? You're on top of your game." It takes a lot of hard work to be there, and on your body and mentally and time wise to play golf and to play as a profession, and I don't want to do that anymore. I've been doing it for 24 or 25 years, and I'm tired, I'm hurt. I want to do other things in my life, and I can't do that if I'm out playing golf all the time.

You know, I'm not rich by money wise to be able to just I can, I can stop, but it's not like I have all the money that Annika does and say, "Well, I don't need this anymore." I love golf. I love being out here. I love the Tour and I'm going to miss it dearly, but there are things in other parts of my life that I want to explore and have time to do. This is a great time. I think my body is telling me "Stop, cut it out, leave me alone." That's where I want to go.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, yeah, I did mention that before because this tournament is a sentimental tournament to me, and you guys have heard me say it a million times, that this is a tournament no matter what is around it, I'm going to be here. No matter whether it was a good week for me to take off because of the majors coming up or having favorite tournaments, but this is one of my favorites and this is one of the tournaments that I'm going to come to, especially my last one.

Q. (Inaudible).

ROSIE JONES: Well, you never know. You never know. When we stopped playing Hershey, Pennsylvania, for a long time, I just wanted to go there because I just loved that little town. Corning is a lot like that. It brings a lot of memories. I have a lot of fond moments here, whether it's fishing over in the gravel pit or partying down on market street or going to Wegmans and being in the food court. Now I'm doing the RV and stuff like that.

I've had a lot of great moments that to you it doesn't seem to great because like if I just go take a walk up in the middle of Corning with all the great houses and the streets and the steep streets up there in the morning before my round and just warm up and just having time by myself to walk, some of that is like some of the great moments, or just taking a walk down the river on the sidewalk there. I love this place. I have something about New York. I don't know what it is.

JOEL LAMP: All right, thanks a lot, Rosie. Good luck.

End of FastScripts.

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